THE WAXWING 167 



The waxwing, happily for itself, has contrived to find a congenial 

 home remote from the beaten tracks of men, and thus it is that 

 ornithologists are, for the most part, gladdened with the sight of its 

 beauty only on those rare occasions when, apparently by untoward 

 circumstances, it is driven forth, and southwards, from its native fast- 

 nesses in hordes, doomed, probably for the most part, to perish. And 

 thus it is that we are indebted for the little we know of the habits of 

 the waxwing to enthusiastic ornithologists who are willing to under- 

 go no small discomfort in order to see it in its chosen retreats. To 

 the late John Wolley, Mr. H. E. Dresser, Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, 

 and Henry Seebohm we owe practically all that has come to light in 

 regard to the habits of the species under what we may call normal 

 conditions. 



The mystery surrounding its breeding haunts was solved long 

 since, as we have already shown, by John Wolley, but Mr. H. E. 

 Dresser is the only ornithologist among our own countrymen who 

 has had the good fortune to actually take the nest with young 

 and a single addled egg (p. 160). He, however, apparently arrived 

 after the period of courtship was long past, and hence we yet 

 await an account of this phase of the bird's life-history. Nor 

 do we know any more of the post-nuptial period, that is to say, 

 of the labours of nest-building and incubation, or of the care 

 of the callow young. For the moment we must assume that these 

 duties are shared by both parents. The only information that has 

 come to us on this subject concerns the food of the young, which are 

 said to be fed at first upon insects, and later on berries, which appear 

 to form the staple diet of the parents. While insects are to be had 

 the parent birds also feed upon them, partly from choice perhaps, but 

 partly also because at this time berries are scarce, being then in the 

 making, and it is probably owing to bad crops during inclement 

 seasons that we owe the occasional visits of these birds to our Islands ; 

 and here, while satisfying the pangs of hunger, these refugees are 

 remorselessly shot down by irresponsible gunners. 



